US Open 2014: Andy Murray should forget the flair and focus on what brought him his greatest successes

Under Ivan Lendl the British No1 ruthlessly put opponents away, and under
Amelie Mauresmo he should maintain that power and purpose

Under scrutiny: Andy Murray hits a forehand in practice on Sunday in New York, with coach Amelie Mauresmo watching onPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

By Greg Rusedski

10:30PM BST 24 Aug 2014

This is going to be a fascinating US Open. When Rafael Nadal is absent, interesting things always seem to happen, and the coming fortnight presents an opportunity for Andy Murray to show that his new partnership with Amelie Mauresmo is on the right track.

If I am honest, I am a little concerned by Andy’s recent comments that he wants to add more flair to his game. I would prefer to see him look back to what was successful in his time with Ivan Lendl, which was being ruthless and saving energy by putting people away quickly.

Of course we all like to see flair on the court but when you start mixing your game up there is more potential for making mistakes and allowing the matches to roll on for longer. Whereas under Lendl, Murray was hitting through people with power and purpose. I am just not sure why he would want to change a winning formula.

I went through this in my own career. After a few surgeries, I started to move away from the core areas that had made me successful. I was trying to mix it up when my best tennis was all about serves and volleys and constant attack. You only need a few trusted patterns of play; if they work, stick with them.

It is so important for Andy to perform well in this tournament, while his collaboration with Mauresmo is still in its early days. Nobody is questioning his talent or work ethic.

But you win a lot of matches in the locker room before they have even started, and at the moment the other players will be thinking that they can expect a few lapses when they go up against him. Not like facing a fit Nadal, when you know that he’s never going to give you an inch.

It is a question of focus. If you watch Nadal or Novak Djokovic, the way they handle pressure is fascinating. When they win the point, they take an average of 25 seconds before starting the next one, and when they lose a point that goes up to 28 or 29.

They are very methodical. They’re thinking what they want to do out there and figuring out how to make it as productive as possible, while also slowing the match down so that it never gets away from them.

Andy had that period under Lendl when he was also very clear in his mind about what he was trying to do, and now he needs to show us that he is getting back to the same sort of clarity. Whether it’s the way he was playing before or a slightly different style, he needs to commit fully to a plan.

He says he is feeling in the best physical shape he has been since Wimbledon last year, and his backhand is definitely better since the surgery. His forehand maybe has not been quite as lethal as it was last year, and his second serve has also regressed a bit, but he is capable of finding some real form here and going deep.

A strong run in New York would be a big statement and go some way towards pushing him back into the top eight in time for the ATP World Tour Finals. It would be a huge disappointment both for him and for the tournament if he was not there at the O2 in November.

If Andy does well, he is likely to play Djokovic in the quarter-final, and that would be an intriguing one. Novak has got married since winning Wimbledon and his wife Jelena is expecting their first child. The distractions of family life might help to explain why he never got started in the two recent Masters events in Toronto and Cincinnati.

I was surprised by Novak’s lack of form because I thought he would push on after that epic win over Roger Federer last month. But then he is always more dangerous in best-of-five set tennis, and has an excellent record here. I also think he will have something to prove, because if he finishes the season as world No 1 again – for the third time in four years – that would be a powerful statement.

As for Federer, he has been the biggest revelation of all this year. It was so brave to change his racket at this late stage of his career and the hiring of Stefan Edberg has also been a masterstroke.

He is playing unbelievable tennis for a man of 33 and has a real shot at adding to his 17 major titles here. We have to give Roger so much credit for the way he analyses his own game and is always so determined to improve. You do not get to be the best player in history by dumb luck.